A sheriff says his detectives are trying to figure out why a mother would kill her four children and then herself at their home in Tennessee.Maury County Sheriff Bucky Rowland said at a news conference Tuesday that evidence points to a murder-suicide."There was some information that was left, it was very brief and vague, that would indicate that it would be murder-suicide," Rowland told The Tennessean. Rowland said one of the mother's adult child found the bodies and called police after coming home from work Monday evening. He identified the dead as 55-year-old Cynthia Collier, 14-year-old Bo Li, 14-year-old Meigan Lin, 15-year-old Lia Lin and 17-year-old Kaileigh Lin.The sheriff said the teenage victims had been adopted and home-schooled. He said police hadn't previously been called to the residence in Columbia, southwest of Nashville, and their father wasn't home at the time."This appears to be a loving home," Rowland said during a press conference. "It’s an immaculate home and a very loving family. So a motive would be very important to know what would lead someone to do this to her loved ones."Rowland said Collier "seemed to be a very loving mother, with the exception of this one incident."Court documents indicate Cynthia Collier and her husband, Randall Collier, were in divorce proceedings last spring but in May asked for the case to be dismissed as they were attempting to reconcile. Along with the teens killed Monday, the Colliers had three adult children. In statements included with the divorce filing, the teen children had asked to live with their mother, stating they barely knew their father. Rowland told NBC News the horror responders encountered at the scene was difficult to handle. "We deal with carnage," Rowland said. "The magnitude of this — it was more than what we’re used to on a day-to-day basis."Fox 17 reports a therapy dog visited 911 dispatchers who handled the initial call. Neighbors said they were surprised to discover that children lived at the home, because they rarely saw activity there and thought it might be a vacation home.

MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. —

A sheriff says his detectives are trying to figure out why a mother would kill her four children and then herself at their home in Tennessee.

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Maury County Sheriff Bucky Rowland said at a news conference Tuesday that evidence points to a murder-suicide.

"There was some information that was left, it was very brief and vague, that would indicate that it would be murder-suicide," Rowland told The Tennessean.

Rowland said one of the mother's adult child found the bodies and called police after coming home from work Monday evening. He identified the dead as 55-year-old Cynthia Collier, 14-year-old Bo Li, 14-year-old Meigan Lin, 15-year-old Lia Lin and 17-year-old Kaileigh Lin.

The sheriff said the teenage victims had been adopted and home-schooled. He said police hadn't previously been called to the residence in Columbia, southwest of Nashville, and their father wasn't home at the time.

"This appears to be a loving home," Rowland said during a press conference. "It’s an immaculate home and a very loving family. So a motive would be very important to know what would lead someone to do this to her loved ones."

Rowland said Collier "seemed to be a very loving mother, with the exception of this one incident."

Court documents indicate Cynthia Collier and her husband, Randall Collier, were in divorce proceedings last spring but in May asked for the case to be dismissed as they were attempting to reconcile.

Along with the teens killed Monday, the Colliers had three adult children.

In statements included with the divorce filing, the teen children had asked to live with their mother, stating they barely knew their father.

Rowland told NBC News the horror responders encountered at the scene was difficult to handle.

"We deal with carnage," Rowland said. "The magnitude of this — it was more than what we’re used to on a day-to-day basis."